Many localities require that pet owners remove droppings their pets leave in public places. While many owners ignore the mandate, others use scoopers, gloves, or bags for this unpleasant task. There have been many attempts to improve this process including use of pet apparel products designed to interdict the offending material at its source. These attempts have generally been inconvenient for the user, expensive to use, uncomfortable for the pet, or simply so monstrously disgusting as to forestall any use of the products.
Three U.S. patents are exemplary of earlier designs. U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,187 for a Device for Collection of Animal Waste describes a relatively complex collection of chest strap, leg loops, leg braces and a collar loop, where the collection is intended to support a waste bag. The device requires the user to install and adjust straps individually around the animal's legs, body, and to a collar, a complex procedure that may be uncomfortable for the animal. The device includes straps disposed beneath an animal's anus, a position prone to contamination during use and one that requires the user to place his or her hands in a sensitive location. The patent describes that each of the straps may be made of an elastic textile material but does not identify the selective use of elastic materials for particular parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,152 for a Device for Collection of Animal Wastes describes a similar complex collection of straps by the same inventor as U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,187. The patent also includes straps encircling the animal's legs and running both above the tail and below the anus.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,574,980 for a Device with Disposable Bag for Collecting Animal Waste describes a relatively complex multi-component drawstring bag with a stiffening band adjacent the bag mouth. Hooks depending from elastic cords couple the bag to a harness that the patent does not describe.